The XI St Petersburg International Forum of United Cultures is scheduled for the first half of September. The decision was approved on 3 March at a meeting of the organising committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.
“We have gained valuable experience in preparing the United Cultures Forum, and we refine its format each year,” Golikova said. “Even during the COVID years—and despite attempts by some countries to cancel Russian culture—the forum has continued successfully, bringing together cultural figures from around the world. This year it will again take place in early September.”
The forum’s theme will be “Return to Culture—New Opportunities.” Business‑programme events will be held in the General Staff Building of the State Hermitage Museum, the halls of the State Russian Museum, and the St Petersburg State Academic Capella.
The cultural programme includes a concert on Palace Square and a gala featuring opera and ballet stars at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.
Speaking for the Ministry of Culture, Minister Olga Lyubimova reported on preparations.
“In 2025 we propose increasing the maximum number of participants to 2,000,” she said. “We plan to expand Russian participation by raising regional quotas and inviting additional cultural figures and special guests.”
The thematic sections will be chaired by, among others, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky; Director General of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives Roman Karmanov; Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky; Director of the Russian Ethnographic Museum Yulia Kupina; VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov; TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman; Fyodor Sosnov, Executive Director of the Cinema Fund; and Edgard Zapashny, Artistic Director of the Great Moscow State Circus on Vernadsky Prospekt.
A new “Art Education” section will be curated by Grigory Zaslavsky, Rector of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS).
The forum will also mark the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. TASS has proposed mounting the photo exhibition “The Muses Were Not Silent,” drawn from its archives.
Roman Karmanov, Director General of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, outlined the events of the “Culture and New Technologies” track, while St Petersburg Vice‑Governor Boris Piotrovsky presented the regional programme.
Programme ideas were also submitted by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin; the President’s Special Representative for International Cultural Cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy; and Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Relations with Society and the Media.
According to Vladimir Kehman, Head of the Forum Directorate, more than 300 Russian and international journalists are expected to attend.
A ceremony at the House of the Government honoured the participants and organisers of the 10th forum. The Deputy Prime Minister presented certificates of honour and letters of appreciation on behalf of the Russian Government.